Alphablogs

Here are some amazing blogging statistics collected on the Blog World Expo site. (The big enormous Blog World Expo will be held in Las Vegas this year.) These stats are American only, and don’t even touch the Canadian, or world-wide blogging universe. When I checked their links for the sources of their stats, some of them are of earlier reports, such as Pew dated 2005! So extrapolate that to the present. When I started with wordpress.com, there were already 60,000 bloggers there. Now, we have 3,392,124 blogs with 93,184 new posts today. And that’s only wordpress.com.

So if you are thinking about starting a blog, or have heard about it and wonder what it’s all about, don’t wait any longer to join this tsunami wave of participation. Blogging is no longer a rare or unique activity, it’s decidedly mainstream.

Look at these Blog World numbers!

Okay, Smartypants, you figure it out! Get in there and dig (digg?) - isn’t this what research is all about? Or is it the cool composed review of previously digested information? All you have to do is look for it and list it, right? Well, not exactly.

While working on a research project recently, I’ve been thinking about the nature of research itself.

When I was teaching Research Skills for Writers and Reporters, I shared many tips and tricks of the trade, including the reality of hours of searching that may or may not yield the result that is being sought. A simple research timelog reveals the process. Hours spent in one direction that brings another lead, then several, then the branching out of the mind from item to lead to dead end to lateral correlation to new lead, and so it goes through the windy twisty passageways. Research doesn’t always reveal the answer directly, but through resonance and correspondance leads are found. And sometimes, there is a big pay off! Aladdin’s Cave of treasure: it’s all there for the picking!

I see research as a subtle dance between intuition and intelligence. It helps if your mind has been trained to categorize and make connections. It helps if you can keep track of what you have done, to retrace your steps if need be. And it helps if you can trust a hunch, make a lateral leap of the mind, think poetically to synthesize concepts. Intelligence serves the intuition at that point, and new ideas are formed that make new sense of old information.

The results of research are more than just a list of quotes and places. They are a synthesis of the information. Information is easy to find. The need is to make sense of the information, to be in a position to prioritize that information and to define uses for the most salient aspects of the information. Research is more than finding and keeping, it is a process of sorting and defining that ultimately yields new information that can be acted upon.

Sunshine in Vancouver brings out the best in us all, and no one wants to stay indoors unless forced. So yesterday I played up on the roofdeck with the Photo Booth application that comes with the mac.

I love the automatic way it forces out an iconic image. Plus there’s video too. It’s dead easy to work and there is some serendipitous stuff that just happens with this software.

And don’t forget the Warhol homage:

It’s been a busy month, with all the activity of spring - new projects brewing and more to do than time to do it!

I recently interviewed Social Media Evangelist/Consultant and woman-about-town Monica Hamburg about one of her areas of expertise: Crowdsourcing. Check it out here in the YouTube version:

One thing this video doesn’t convey is Monica’s terrific sense of humour. You can find out more about that side of her through her blogsite(s). Contact Monica here.

Usually, we don’t write about crime here at Alphablogs. However, I just found this intriguing story in the Austrian news, (thanks to my Twitter friend Lotree) and noticed that no-one in the English speaking blogosphere had talked about it yet so I thought I’d translate it.

A Haiku renewed hopes to find the killer of 19-year-old Austrian Ulrike Reistenhofer, who was murdered on August 9, 1998. However, the poet could not be found.

According to psychologist Alfred Endl, the person who wrote the Haiku is directly or indirectly connected to the killing. In 2006, Austrian media reported the poem. Soon after, internet users contacted them to inform them that they had seen that poem at a memorial, signed by “serial killer”, as far back as 2003.

The police’s hoped were fanned. They attempted to determine via the ISP (internet service provider) address who had posted the Haiku – it was possible that the killer her or himself had put down the Haiku at the memorial and posted it to the internet.

Unfortunately, this is where the investigation ended – with the internet provider. In 2006, there was no law that the activities of internet users had to be recorded and stored with internet service providers for a specified amount of time.

The case remains cold.

(Image by John Drinkwater)

I’m proud to announce that I was one of the winners in the social media mega project we’ve been talking about here in the last few months.

And because it’s Friday today, I’m going to donate the $25 straight to the Frozen Pea Fund to help the world get rid of cancer.

Here are all the contributors to the project:

Facebook

HOST: Ina from InspiringWear

• Gobala Krishnan from Easy World Press wrote about Getting Blog Traffic From Your Facebook Profile
• Simon from Yeepage.com shares his view of Top 9 Facebook Applications
• Jacob Share from JobMob offers us his article-review I’m on Facebook - Now what?
• Jeremy Lim from Marketing Ruined My Live brings us a very interesting, youthful, point of view in Facebook Ruined My(Social) Life
• We even got a contribution in Spanish - Cómo hago para estar en contacto con mis amigos? Facebook!
• in the latest issue of “Oprah Magazine” there was an article on Facebook as well You’veBeenPoked! by By Liesl Schillinger

Social Photography
HOST: Brian from Epic Edits Weblog

• In Social Media as I See It an amateur photographer pays her gratitude to one of the most popular photography sites, strobist.com, that managed to take the blog to the next level and turn it into a community of passionate photographers.
• In his contribution Blog Writing Project Iain confessed that Flickr gives him angst at first, but then realized that in reality it gives him “an opportunity, and maybe in time, inspiration”.
• Read Utilizing Flickr as a Photoblogging Tool to find out how to use Flickr as a blogging tool.
• Help me Flickr! I want to be a better photographer! is a must read post on how to get the most out of Flickr and improve your photography skills.
• Brian wrote an excellent guide on using photophlow: A Social Experience for Flickr Photographers.
• Twist & shout! is about another social photography site called Shutterchance.
• Virtual community becoming real is just one example of many how virtual friends and social networks are transcended to the real world.
• In the article Flickr is the key to my social photography experience Lilahpops recounts how Flickr helped to become the active member of this photosharing community.
• Audee warns us about Things to Consider Before You Join a Flickr Pool

StumbleUpon, MySpace and YouTube
Karen Zara from a1-fan-fun

• Steven Snell suggests Promoting Older Posts With Social Media
• Tibi Puiu gives us A Guide to StumbleUpon: Understanding and Beating The System
• Simon shares his personal experience in StumbleUpon: My Story So Far
• Tejvan Pettinger reveals Why StumbleUpon is Better Than Digg
• Isabella Mori shares her StumbleUpon finds on Frozen Pea Friday: Breast Cancer Info on StumbleUpon
• Karen Zara has also written her views on StumbleUpon, Networking At MySpace and Silent Interaction With YouTube Users.

Twitter
HOST: Yours Truly at ChangeTherapy

• Carol from Alphablogs has posted a valuable find - Lee Lefevre’s great video on Twitter.
• Rhett ponders about our lives on Twitter with 140 characters or less.
• Karen talks about why Twitter may not be for everyone.
• Glenda thinks Twitter is much more than instant messaging. it’s about building community.
• Simon on yeepage has a mini-series on Twitter with a step by step approach on all you need to learn about this social network.
• Gregg has written his post about Twitter on yet another microblog, Tumblr.
• Sameer has written about Twitter stats and many other twitter-related posts.

Digg and Reddit
HOST: Vivien from InspirationBit

• How To benefit from Digg by Tejvan Pettinger. Broken up in 13 easy-to-follow steps, Tejvan shares his observations on how to prepare your site for Digg. Afterwards he followed up this post with another article, which is questioning and reflecting on
  Is it worth Trying to Get On Digg?
• How To Get Onto Digg’s Front Page in 8 steps by Jacob Cass. Ever wondered what are the sure-fire techniques on reaching that coveted #1 spot on Digg? Jacob will not only share the secrets but also will make you laugh.
• Experience with Digg by Dexter. This is one of those no-luck-with-Digg-whatsoever articles which actually tell the truth about this social networking site.
• I’m Really Not a Digg Fan by Karen Zara.
  Now you too can join Digg’s NoFan Club, just head over to Karen’s post and share your reasons for not being Digg’s fan in the comments.
• Redditers – What They Tend to Do? by A u d e e. If you’re like me and still didn’t quite figure out how Reddit works and how to tackle that site, be sure to check Audee’s article.
• Can You Dig Digg?, where I contemplate about 8 things that I especially don’t understand about Digg and the obsession with it.

Technorati
HOST: Monica Hamburg

• Simon addressed the purpose of Technorati and how it works.
• In another post Simon shares tips on How to improve your Technorati ranking
• Kriz Cpec contributed his Secrets of Using Blogorati
• Monica has also posted responses to her Facebook query, so be sure to read the results on how bloggers use Technorati.

Sphinn
HOST: Simonne from AllTipsAndTricks

• If you’ve never succeeded with Sphinn, be sure to read Simon’s advise on How to reach the front Page in Sphinn
• Karen Zara briefs us with some Quick Notes On Sphinn
• Simonne gives us an honest and eye-opening review of what goes behind the scenes of Sphinn’s community.

LinkedIn
HOST: Yours Truly

• Simonne contemplates about Why LinkedIn And Pen Names Don’t Go Well Together
• Jacob has put together Gigantic Tips Guide for Finding Jobs With LinkedIn
• And Isabella has collected interesting LinkedIn Stories from her fellow bloggers.

Del.icio.us
HOST: Aaron Stroud from On Financial Success

• Simon from yeepage.com shares his Tips on how to use del.icio.us
• Simonne explains why she likes del.icio.us so much in her article They Used To Call It Social Bookmarking
• Karen goes as far as claiming that Del.icio.us Is The Best, so read to find out why.
• Jacob provides us with the Success Checklist To Hit #1 on del.icio.us
• Ronald teaches us how to Share Your del.icio.us Links With WordPress.

Squidoo, Mixx
HOST: Pearl from Interesting Observations.

• Lauren teaches us all there is to know on how to Use Squidoo to Drive Traffic and Make Money.
• Karen shares her Mixed Views on Mixx

Comparative Analysis of several Social Media sites
I’ve decided to list the following four articles separately since they cover various social networking sites:

• In Social Media In My Way Tibor Radványi shares tips on several social photography sites, such as Flickr, photographyVoter.com, Jumpcut and Animoto, Propeller and Squidoo.
• Socializing is about social media sites like Flickr, photographyvoter.com, stumbleupon, technorati.
• What is the best social media website? Digg, SU, Delicious, Reddit?, by Jacob Cass
• In my interview with a local enterpreneur, Social Media as a New Way of Doing Business, Rastin shares his experience with Flickr, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Every Friday, I post a blog entry related to breast cancer. It all started here, with Susan Reynold’s and Connie Reece’s breast cancer activism. (Actually, that wasn’t my first post on the subject since, sadly, I have more friends battling with this. The first post was about a great fundraiser for my friend and soulmate Haedy. And as I’m writing this, another friend of mine is getting ready for mastectomy on Tuesday.)

Anyways, so today I dugg around in Stumbleupon to see what they have to offer on the topic. Here’s what I found:

Let’s start with this - click on it, it’s fun - something that always motivates me.

I am protecting my ladyberries because it’s too late to save my mom/ sister/ daughter/ friends. I will save the world one breast at a time by getting outside.

Okay, so today I’ll get out and do some gardening.

Now let’s get scientific:

U.S. scientists are developing a breast cancer screening test that checks a woman’s saliva for evidence of the disease. They say they’ve identified 49 proteins in saliva that can actually distinguish healthy women from those with benign breast tumors and those with malignant breast tumors.

NEW YORK, NY - Researchers have identified a specific group of microRNA molecules that are responsible for controlling genes that cause breast cancer metastasis.

And here is some information on breast cancer among men.

Now for more breast cancer activists:

In 1989 Jan Adrian became one of the 1.8 million women in this country diagnosed with breast cancer. Treatments recommended to Jan focused on the physical body, leaving psychological, social, and spiritual needs unmet. Healing journeys - Cancer as a turning point was founded as a result.

Making memories writes:

It is our intention to “make a difference” in the lives of those suffering from this devastating disease. Our wish-granting service helps put the realities of this terminal illness aside, if just for a few days, while providing the opportunity for a family to spend quality time together. Our hope is that every metastatic breast cancer patient will be able to pass from this world comforted with the joy of having left his or her family a final beautiful memory—something the family will look back on and remember for a lifetime.

Oh, and don’t leave without clicking here to donate a mammogram.

Does some of this feel a bit too pink and commercial?

At the end of 2001, Barbara Ehrenreich, noted feminist author, published a long article in Harper’s Magazine. It was sharply critical of the ‘breast cancer movement’, suggesting that effort was placed into mammography and pink ribbons that could be better used elsewhere.Ehrenreich was diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing conventional therapy even while suggesting that she did not believe it was very effective.

HERE IS THE TALK Barbara Ehrenreich gave at Breast Cancer Action in San Francisco, CA:

I have to say that this here is definitely an example of commercializing breast cancer: http:// breastcancerawarenessribbon.info/. There is a site exactly like this for every conceivable breast cancer keyword. (Which is why I’ve written the link in such a way as to not create “google juice” for that site).

This cat, on the other hand, deserves all the juice I can give!

(This post is being submitted to the social media megaproject, started by Vivien at InspirationBit. The StumbleUpon section is hosted by Karen Zara).

Here it is: another terrific video from Lee LeFever’s Common Craft Show.

(This post is being submitted to the social media megaproject, started by Vivien at InspirationBit. The Twitter section is hosted by none other than myself at Change Therapy)

Just came across this info recently, in Media in Canada. They say:

Teens not so cyber-obsessed after all - but they’re more social than oldsters

Judging by the results of an Ipsos Reid study released yesterday, Canadian teens aren’t the Internet hogs they’re generally assumed to be.

Findings from Inter@ctive Teens: The Impact of the Internet on Canada’s Next Generation - include the eyebrow raiser that the average weekly time spent online by the 12-17 demographic is a mere 13 hours - a number that hasn’t increased since Ipsos last measured online teen behaviour in 2004. By comparison, Canadian adults are logging onto the Internet for an average of 19 hours per week.

Find out more here at Media in Canada.

I was so impressed by the direction that Brian Clark of Copyblogger fame took to create the new Teaching Sells program, (along with partner Tony Clark) that I signed up! Something I don’t usually do, but the time is right.

For me it was an ideal fit, having been an educator for many years, teaching writing skills and new media in community college and private post secondary settings. Before that I’d managed the educational media sales of a prominent Canadian distribution company, offering UK and Australian documentaries to schools, libraries and universities.

This Teaching Sells program came along at just the right time for me, and I’m using it now to transpose those skills to create marketable interactive courses delivered through membership sites.

Find out more about Teaching Sells here

A few weeks ago I participated in one of the member-only teleseminars that gave me great ideas to get going on the courses I’ll be preparing in the next year.

It’s amazing to have access to expertise like Brian’s at such a low cost. I recently saw in Problogger that he’ll be one of the presenters at the Elite Retreat this April, along with Guy Kawasaki and other major web movers and shakers to an exclusive group of only 35 participants. So I’m thrilled to be able to work with Brian and his colleagues as a Charter Member.

Much of the course stuff I already know (or think I know) but the approach using a variety of media for info delivery, and especially the advice on direct marketing and sales is incredibly valuable.

The year to come will see an even greater explosion of membership sites offering a cornucopia of training, information, skills, support and connectivity.

Creating courses positions your expertise and offers an evolving way to get you message out there, plus substantial income. Their free report explains this in detail.

The site itself is a model of simplicity, and a great example of the process they are teaching. Great perks are the active forums and teleseminars.

If this interests you, click on the free report image below, and if you want to talk to me about it, just leave a comment below.

I’ve heard that the price for the course will be increasing once they have all their Charter Members, so if you’re at all intrigued, check it out now.

Click the banner below for a free download of their report:

And if you have a great course idea and want help setting it up, let me know!